In areas of the country where farmers irrigate their fields by means of ditches to run the irrigation water, there is a need to remove all grass and weeds and other such foliage which grows in the ditches between uses. The weeds and grass in the ditches impede the flow of water through the ditches.
Various types of weed burning apparatus are commercially available for burning weeds in ditches. Some types utilize a large tank of propane, diesel fuel, etc., which must be carried on a truck bed or trailer. An elongated boom is connected to the fuel source with a flexible hose. The boom includes means for allowing air to mix with the fuel, and a nozzle at the outer end of the boom directs the flame when the fuel and air mixture is ignited. A valve controls the rate of fuel flow to the nozzle. Hence, the valve controls the size of the flame.
Another type of commercially available weed burning boom utilizes an elongated metal boom (e.g., aluminum) which is mounted on a stand or support carried by a truck or trailer. The boom includes a motor driven fan to mix air with fuel (e.g., diesel fuel) and force it through the length of the boom to a nozzle at the outer end of the boom.
With such commercially available weed burners there is a need for two persons to properly operate them. One person must drive the truck, tractor, etc., which tows or carries the fuel supply tank and the weed burner apparatus. The other person holds or otherwise controls the weed burning boom and directs the flame where it is required in order to properly burn foliage in the ditches.
Because the unwanted foliage in irrigation ditches is usually not uniform in size and is not uniformly distributed along a ditch, it is not possible to move the weed burning apparatus along a ditch at a constant speed. Consequently, to properly burn foliage in a ditch, it is necessary for the driver to slow down or stop when heavier areas of foliage are present in the ditch. However, the driver often cannot see into the ditch being burned and therefore must rely upon shouted signals and directions from the person controlling the boom. Mis-communications or misunderstandings between the driver and the person controlling the boom may cause certain sections of a ditch to be incompletely burned. This may require a second trip along a ditch to burn such sections.